Bringing safe water to Katine

Bringing safe water to Katine

Improving access to
safe water and improving sanitation in Katine, a rural sub-county of Uganda, is one of the five components of the three-year project being implemented by Amref and Farm-Africa and funded by Guardian readers and Barclays.

According to Amref's baseline survey, carried out last year, nearly half the people in the sub-county rely on unprotected wells for their water and the majority of villagers have to walk up to 2km to fetch it. Over the course of the project, Amref aims to repair and drill boreholes, train mechanics, install rainwater tanks in schools and water jars in homes, improve toilets in schools and homes, form water source committees and promote better hygiene.

To mark the first anniversary of the project, we look at how Amref is bringing safe water to Katine

Thursday 13 November 2008 19.01 EST
First published on Thursday 13 November 2008 19.01 EST

Women drawing water in jerry cans from the
Emugogol well in Abia village last year. The well was submerged in flood water, which meant it was contaminated by soil and not suitable for drinking. Despite this many villagers had little choice but to draw the water from the well. Another, cleaner well was 5km away, which was too far to walk for women with a large number of children

Collecting water is usually the job of women. Before the start of the project, women said their most pressing need was to improve the boreholes and wells. Water should be boiled before it is used for drinking or washing or cooking, but this doesn’t always happen. Waterborne diseases are common. Amref’s baseline survey showed that 38% of children under five had suffered diarrhoea the fortnight before their parents were questioned. Diarrhoea is one of the biggest killers of small children

A bowl of water from the polluted well which had worms in the water, at the village of Abia next to Emuru swamp. The shallow Emuru well was dug by a charity four years ago, but its poor construction and maintenance has meant that soil is washed in and it is surrounded by animal faeces, which have caused disease. Villagers have to try to filter them out using leaves and grass, but this is not always successful

Ojom Parish

In January, Amref began drilling water boreholes around the sub-county. People from Matali in Katine’s came out to watch as work began. Matali, home to 500 residents, is one of eight villages with no water source. The cost of the boreholes is around 17.5m Ugandan shillings ($10,000) each

meet regularly

Local communities have been trained in operating and maintaining their watersources. Water source committees have been set up to monitor the boreholes and will contact newly trained hand-pump mechanics if one breaks down. The committees with village health teams to discuss needs

Amref’s water and sanitation team test the water at an open spring for signs of contamination. Using test tubes, reagents and various pieces of equipment, Amref’s water and sanitation officer, Ignatius Epuwat, and Thomas Epeet, from the Soroti District Water Office, took samples from the constantly flowing pipe in Ogworo, Olwelai parish, mixed the water with various chemicals and recorded the results

Part of Amref’s water and sanitation work included the installation of rainwater harvesting tanks at schools to give pupils safe water to drink. Huge plastic water tanks have been installed at five schools facing acute water shortages